South Africa's minister of communications, Ayanda Dlodlo on Thursday afternoon announced that she has extended the acting appointments of the beleaguered South African public broadcaster top executives yet again for another few months, the announcement coming just hours before their terms were to lapse at midnight tonight.
The struggling SABC facing a possible strike, deep in the red and having posted yet another and growing R977 million annual loss, is adrift without any permanent or interim board since South African president Jacob Zuma refuses to appoint and rubber-stamp the names that was sent to the presidency from parliament after an public interview and appointment process.
Ayanda Dlodlo announced that Nomsa Philiso (acting SABC CEO), Bessie Tugwana (acting SABC COO) and Thabile Dlamini (acting SABC CFO) will all continue in their acting roles with their acting appointment terms extended until the vacancies for these positions are filled on a permanent basis.
All of the SABC's top executive positions remain acting positions who can't take or make incisive and sweeping decisions, and with no board to direct or do corporate governance and proper oversight, the financially fragile SABC remains adrift in a stormy broadcasting sea, battered from all sides.
Nomsa Philiso, Bessie Tugwana and Thabile Dlamini were appointed in their respective acting positions in July and were supposed to serve until mid-October when permanent appointments were to have beeto have been made, along with a new permanent SABC board.
Yet Ayanda Dlodo as new communications minister and president Jacob Zuma have failed the South African public and SABC viewers and listeners who are expected to pay an annual SABC TV licence fee, by not ensuring stability at the South African Broadcasting Corporation and making sure that proper appointment deadlines are being met.
Ayanda Dlodlo in a statement on Thursday said she extended the acting CEO, acting COO and acting CFO appointments citing the now often-used, fall-back paragraph from the Memorandum of Incorporation of the SABC, that her predecessor, the incompetent Faith Muthambi, used several times over the past two years.
Ayanda Dlodlo said the Memorandum of Incorporation of the SABC allows her to appoint "any person to act in the stead of the CEO, CFO and the COO shall only be appointed for a period of three months, subject to any extended period being approved by the minister".
In the statement Ayanda Dlodlo said "I hope this will enhance stability, ensure continuity and facilitate a seamless transition and a proper handover process for the incoming board."
What will actually enhance stability would be for Ayanda Dlodlo to have made sure there are a permanent CEO, COO and CFO in place at the SABC by now - as well as for president Jacob Zuma and Ayanda Dlodlo to have made sure that a permanent SABC board is in place before the term of the interim SABC board expired.
